There has been speculation in the national media in recent days that the Chancellor will use his Budget statement on March 3 to announce a 3-month extension to the Stamp Duty holiday. The initiative was introduced in July of last year to counteract the three-month...

One of the big dilemmas for people considering whether to take the plunge and buy a house or flat is whether they should do it now – and try to take advantage of the Stamp Duty (SDLT) holiday – or wait to see how the housing market settles into 2021. It’s a dilemma...

We’re well and truly into 2021 now, but we could all be forgiven for having the very real sense that while the number might have changed, not much else has. The pre-Christmas tiered restrictions and now a second full national lockdown after a summer and autumn of...

I’m usually reluctant to make predictions about the UK housing market – there are too many variables to make gazing into a crystal ball remotely reliable, and the proof of that is there for all to see in the past 12 months! But understandably, people are more cautious...

It’s been quite a year for the housing market. A three-month moratorium on all new transactions during the spring was followed in early summer with an explosion in activity as lockdown was lifted and the market reopened. It really is time to look forward to Christmas!...

After the year we’ve had, it’s understandable that many people don’t want to take on the additional burden of a bigger mortgage to buy their dream home. As I’ve already explained in a previous article, if you do want to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, which...

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote an article which started with a question: How would you and your family cope if you suddenly found you were unable to work and earn a living? What would you do if you were no longer financially secure? Looking back, it seems almost...

There’s now just a little over four months to go before the Chancellor is due to slam the door shut on the Stamp Duty holiday that has saved homebuyers up to £15,000 in land tax since June this year. Recent figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)...

With the UK now formally in recession for the first time in 11 years, mortgage providers are inevitably becoming more circumspect in how they lend money for house purchases. And that means it’s becoming harder to secure the larger sums needed to move. As the Financial...

According to some reports this week, the first signs that the post-lockdown housing boom that began when the government opened up the housing market at the beginning of June 2020 has begun to give way to greater caution. According to the online housing news portal...

Most of us know what it’s like moving into a new house. You came to see it when it was in full swing as someone else’s home and it feels very different when you take your first steps into it as the proud new owner. The seemingly vacuous rooms that seem much bigger...

There’s barely a single area of our increasingly busy lives where we don’t have the option to do things for ourselves at home in front of a laptop, and the process of choosing a mortgage product is no different. From online grocery shopping to switching your car...